Fourth Grade Morning Tubs for August

Students and teachers alike are so excited to use morning tubs in 4th grade.

Morning tubs have been used successfully for many years in the lower grades as a way for students to practice necessary skills.

Teachers are discovering that morning tubs don't have to be exclusive to kindergarten. They are a great addition to upper grades, as well!

Even your most reluctant students will love using these activities to practice fourth grade skills in math, language arts, critical thinking, and fine motor.

These are so versatile and can find a place in your classroom for morning work upon arrival to school, centers, and as activities for early finishers.

If you are looking for a new way to add some fun and play to your day and an alternative to worksheet

practice, these morning tubs might just be right for you.

See the pictures below for all activities included in the 4th Grade August Morning Tubs.

Skip Counting Puzzles to 100,000

True or False Comparisons

Multiplication Facts

Place Value

Money

Elapsed Time

Measurement Estimation

Graphing

Sight Words

Prefixes

Narrative Writing

Alphabetical Order

Nouns

Sentences & Sentence Fragments

Long Vowels

Fix the Sentences

Prepositions

Fine Motor Mazes

Fine Motor Shapes

Fine Motor Tracing

Critical Thinking

If you are interested in adding these engaging, hands-on activities to

your classroom, you can find them in my store here.

Grab these morning tubs for free!

Keeping learning fun, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching

Time Management Tips for Teachers: Simple and Easy Monthly Menu Planning

You've worked hard All. Day. Long.

You arrive home, and the first words out of your family's mouths is, "What's for dinner?"

There are no high fives for an awesome day.

There is no sympathy or concern about the rough day you experienced.

There is no talking through it.

No, you've come home to a hungry crowd, and they are demanding to be fed.

Wouldn't you love to change all of the above?

The answer is so easy and simple.

Monthly menu planning will help with time management in your life.

You'll even find that you have time for some rest and relaxation each afternoon.

Best of all is that your family will be invested and involved with this plan, taking some of the responsibility off of your shoulders!

Steps for Easy Menu Planning

Step 1: Make a list.

What are your go-to meals? What about elaborate meals? What are your all-time favorite meals?

Brainstorm a list of these meals. I like to use this FREE form to make a master list.

Step 2: Plan meals around the ingredients you have.

By planning meals around the items in your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer and the list of items you plan to purchase, you will save time during the month by not making multiple trips to the grocery store.

RELATED: Once a Month Grocery Shopping (part 1)

Step 3: Include your family.

Including your family once a month for menu planning is a great learning activity for your kids and keeps everyone involved and invested. Have your family help fill out the "Master List of Menus" you downloaded above. Make sure that each family member has his or her favorite dishes and meals included each month.

RELATED: Once a Month Grocery Shopping (part 2)

Step 4: Plan out Your month on a calendar.

I like to plan my month in PENCIL. Inevitably, something happens to change at least one night during the month. Think about these things before listing your meals:

Is there a set night of the week for church, sports, meetings, etc.?
Is there an activity (conferences, PLC, faculty meetings, kids' soccer practices, piano lessons, etc.) one or two afternoons a week that makes you arrive home later?
Is there a day of the week when you are always super tired? (Mine is always Monday and Thursday)
Do you like cooking a big Sunday meal?
Do you have the same meal one night a week (ex: taco Tuesday or pizza Friday)?

(Here's a FREE calendar to use.)

Keep these answers in mind as you pencil in your monthly menus. My personal plan always includes:

one or two "easy" nights each week
a night for someone else to cook (Remember, even younger children can put a loaf of bread, cold cuts, chips, and plates on the table.)
a leftover night (Keep younger children busy while you rest by letting them make menus of the foods available.)

Refer to #3 above, and include your family. Let each family member choose his or her favorite meal, and pencil it in on a night that will work best.

Complete the entire month, and hang the calendar on the fridge so that all family members have access.

(Don't forget to save this pin to your favorite Pinterest board so that you can refer to this post as needed.)

Simple and easy menu planning for tired teachers

RELATED: Editable Calendars (with free updates for life)

Step 5: What's for Dinner?

Each night of the week, quickly check your menu for the next evening's planned meal. Prep ingredients, or remove items from the freezer that need to thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Set out the crockpot if you need to add items the next morning before heading to school.

You will no longer have to start thinking about your "second job" of cooking dinner every night. You can now come home to rest and relax for a bit because you have a plan in place for the evening's meal.

Best of all, when your family asks, "What's for dinner?" Just point to the refrigerator while laying on the couch without opening your eyes or saying a word.

Helping you with a plan and some rest time after a long day of work, that's just...

My Kind of Teaching

Classroom Management Tools: Using a Calendar to Maximize Time Management in Your Classroom

Using a calendar to help with time management can be elaborate or simple, expensive or frugal, and anywhere in between. The important thing is to use one that works best for you.

The main purpose of using a calendar in your classroom is to make your life easier. Planning out your week, month, and year is one of the easiest ways to keep everything running like a well-oiled machine and help with time management in the classroom.

Simply put, a calendar is one of the most efficient classroom management tools at your disposal.

Use these ideas to master your calendar and manage your time for maximum results throughout the year.

1. Map out your year. Pencil in the units you will be teaching this year using your district curriculum map so that you know what you will be teaching and when. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but putting it down on the calendar will help you with dates.

RELATED: No Prep Centers for August

2. Add important dates, such as holidays, parent conference dates, early release days, etc. During the year, you will be glad to have these details available to you in one central location.

3. Write recurring events, such as monthly faculty meetings, weekly PLC meetings, changes to your daily routine (i.e., library every other Wednesday @ 10:00, etc.).

4. When you get your class list and student information, add your students’ birthdays to your calendar.

Now that you have everything that is readily known to you at the beginning of the year in one central location, weekly and monthly planning will be so much easier. You have a roadmap ready to go. Knowing where you are going this school year is a huge stepping stone to maximize time management in your classroom.

Grab a freebie to help you with more time savers with these FREE No Prep Centers!

Helping you work smarter and not harder this year is just...

My Kind of Teaching